BLUNT BUTCHER
JAMMU: ‘Poster boy’, ‘youth icon’, ‘top commander’, ‘symbol of new-age militancy’ and many more brand names have been ‘bestowed’ upon 22-year old Burhan Wani, a terrorist, by terror-entrepreneurs of Kashmir, who are looking forward to reap a huge harvest this summer. His death has come as a big relief and fresh breather for all those who found themselves in jittery with common Kashmiri distancing from the cult of Jihad.
If terrorists won’t get killed, how shall separatists justify their relevance in the normalized Kashmir? Their existence lies in the mushroom growth of martyrs’ grave-yards, which if rehabilitated by highly blown-up terrorist like Burhan will turn out as a blank-cheque for them to encash the time they wish. Burhan’s brand-name is enough for motivated scribes to get by-lines by projecting him larger than life size. How otherwise, a 10th standard drop out could become a highly educated terrorist to take up gun for the cause of Kashmir ‘at the altar of his life.’ Has he really been a factor to attract educated youngsters towards Jihad against Indian ‘subjugation and oppression’.
Terrorism or Jihad in Kashmir has turned out a boom for some activists, scribes and even politicians. By glorifying terror, they have carved out a space for themselves across the globe as experts on Kashmir. They are most sought after entities by peace brokers, human rights outfits and even New Delhi and Islamabad. They can be seen moving around continents in pursuit of seeking solution to the so-called ‘imbroglio’, which, however, remains a distant dream after over two and half decades. They have become integral to a circuit which owes its origin to Kashmir and sustains on miseries of Kashmir. How can they, therefore, wish end to cult of terror, which they glorify as Jehad?
No sooner Burhan and his two fellow terrorists got killed, Kashmir’s trio secessionists, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar and Yasin Malik jumped into the fray and announced shutdown- their favourite pastime. While asking the people to join in huge numbers in the funeral procession of Burhan in Tral, Geelani overlooked, of course deliberately, the consequences, which were horrendous. Eleven young people got killed in violent incidents with security forces and the police. Ninety six personnel have been seriously wounded while three policemen are reported missing.
Who will account for these deaths? Syed Ali Shah Geelani! Obviously not, as he has a vested interest in death and destruction to keep his ‘Jihadi-enterprise’ flourishing. Nobody in Kashmir has ever asked people like him whether any of their kin has achieved ‘martyrdom’ in pursuit of Jihad. In fact, at this advanced age also, he doesn’t take chances with his health and as soon as he develops even bad-cold, prestigious national hospitals with cream of doctors remain on tenterhooks to provide him best possible medicare, perhaps at government expenses. He feels comfort in issuing diktats, without bothering what it means for ailing Kashmiris or those whose sustenance depends on daily earnings. He has himself been leading a luxurious life in posh Hyderpora house without any dependable source of income.
Same is the case with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is always on foreign jaunts to espouse the cause of ‘Kashmir’ without taking Kashmirs into confidence as to who were funding his frequent trips to continents. Wikileaks had hugely exposed his personal ambitions for power and position. It is ironic that his father Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq got assassinated by the Jihadi birds, as he opposed their Jihad and wanted Kashmir to retain its peaceful ambience. By choosing to remain by the side of Jihadis, he is not only subscribing to the ideology which killed his father but also pushing younger generation of Kashmiris to death and destruction.
Similarly, when Yasin Malik talks about ‘oppression’, he conveniently forgets his involvement in the killing of three IAF personnel in Srinagar outskirts way back in 1990. Why doesn’t he tell to the people of Kashmir and ‘icons like Burhan’ why he is not being prosecuted for the crimes he is alleged to have committed. Is there any fixed match between Yasin Malik, agencies and Pakistan?
The terror-supporters in Kashmir have all these years benefitted from the killing of young people like Burhan by appending them a tag of ‘Mujahid’ and ‘Martyr’. More such killings and more they are in the business. Wikileaks had exposed these self seekers much earlier.
In one of his cables to the State Department in February 2006, the then US Ambassador to India David Mulford had stated: “Kashmir politics is as filthy as Dal Lake. Money from Pakistani and Indian intelligence agencies and foreign extremists had given an incentive to its leaders to perpetuate the conflict. This river of dirty money…calls into question whether the Kashmiri elite truly want a settlement to their problems. The minute a deal is struck; some must surely worry that the funds will dry up.”
